Sharks, Whales & Weirdness in Tofino

You know we’ve come a long way when people are more concerned about a friendly whale than a shark attack. The former is a gray whale who’s recently made a habit of coming really close to surfers, under boats and breaching about two rooster hairs shy of a fishing boat. The latter refers to a “potential” shark attack involving an Alberta woman who went surfing and found herself bleeding with what looked like a bite on her finger.

There are sharks in Tofino. They’re salmon sharks, though, as the media has stated, and this species has never once had a recorded attack on a human. I have to admit, I think it’s really unlikely this was a shark attack – as it would be the first shark attack in Canadian waters in recorded history. The surfer didn’t even see what caused the injury, so rumors of a shark are pure speculation. Some believe it could have been a seal, which I find more plausible.

It’s a cool story though, and combined with a gray whale that seems to be getting friendlier by the day (which is, frankly, much more dangerous than any salmon shark), it’s part of a trend of weird fish tales coming from Tofino in 2012.

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